Procedures
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
Nuclear medicine is a branch on medical imaging that uses a small amount of radioactive material to diagnose or treat a variety of diseases including many types of cancers, heart disease, lung pathology, renal and gastrointestinal abnormalities.
Nuclear medicine or radionuclide imaging procedures are non-invasive and usually painless medical tests that help physicians diagnose medical conditions. These imaging scans use a radioactive material called radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers. Depending on the type of nuclear medicine exam the radiotracer is either injected into the vein, swallowed or inhaled as at gas and eventually accumulates in the organ or area of the body been examined which gives off energy in the form of gamma rays. This energy is then detected by a device called a gamma camera. In some centres, nuclear medicine imaging can be superimposed with computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging to produce special fusion views.
Therapeutic procedures such as radioactive iodine use radioactive material to treat cancer and other medical conditions affecting the thyroid gland.